Fluid pump



AJuly 3, 192s.

C. VAN AMBURGH FLUID PUMP Filed May l5, 1924 mum/9%'.

Patented July 3, 1928.

PATENT oFFicE. i

CHARLES VAN Annuncia," or LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA.

. FLUin l Application tiled` lilayil,

`My invention relates to Huid `pumps and particularly, although notnecessarily7 to oil well pumps. i y i The purposes of my invention areto provide a fluid pump which is removably associated with an oil stringcasingjto permit its withdrawal without disturbing'the casing; a pumpwhich is operable to `elevate fluid in such manner thatresultantsettling chambers are formed and permanentlymainy pumpembodying my invention, and will y ltained between the pistonsand theluidelevated which function to prevent "solid particles from enteringthe working area of the pistons, whereby Vthe pistons and cylinder wallsare maintained free from jtheabrasive y action of sand or other solidparticlesga pump in which the resultant settling chambers are adapted to'be filled by the oil liandled and insuch manner that bodies of oil` arepermanently interposed between the pump pistons and the'oil pumps orelevated to move bodily with thepistons inpei mittiiigvthe latter toproperly function' in elevating the oil` andso that should they containsolid 1particles in suspension, such as sand, shale or the" like,thesolid particles will be given ample opportunity'to settle to the`bottom of the bodiesand be. ultimately discharged from 'the pump,thereby presenting between the pistons and the contaminated oilelevated, fluid mediums which are clean andfree from solid particles andwhich operate to maintain thepistons and cylinder walls free of thesolid particles with the ultimate and primary objectof reducing to aminimum the wear of the pistons and cylinders; a pump which, in itsapplication to van oil string' casing, is capable of being filled by theuppermost strata of oil in the casing orthat strata which is freefromsolid particles so that "the interposed fluid mediums above describedare initially and permanently clean; a pump in which the oil elevatedand containing solid matter in suspension is raised in the same ratio`as re- PUMP..

1924. .semi No; 713,493.

thus provide a fluid-tight connection betweenthe pump and casing,andcapable of being elevated from its seat so as toallow the oil in thecasing above the normal oil "level to 'run back and thus flush out anyMsolid matter which may have accumulated in the pump below the barrelowing to in activity of the pump, .o that the pump can "beproperly.reseated.` i

I will describe only one form of fluid then point out the novel featuresthereof in` tionzone form of fluid pumpembodying my p invention inapplied position within an oil string casing;

Figure 2j isa view similar to Figure l, but

`withthe pistons of the pumpin the opposite extreme ure 1;

Figures views taken on the lines `3--3, 4-4 and 5 i-5,

respectively, of Figure 1.` A l y Referringspecifically tothe drawings,`in

positions `from those shown in Figsimilar parts, my invention in itspresent embodiment is'shown as applied to a lconventional form of oilstring casing, such casing including an upper section 15 and a 3; 4 and5 are transverse sectional which similar reference characters refer tolower section 16 connected by a threaded collar 17. `The fluid pumpforming the subject matter of myiiivention includes a seat oi'supporting member `18 which is adapted to be fixedly secured in spanningrelation within the casing byinterposing the same `between theconfronting ends of the sections y 15 and 1G in a mannerV clearlyillustrated in Figures 1 and 2. This seat or supporting member 18 isprovide'd'with an axial opening 19 through which oil is adapted to bedrawn upwardly by means of the pump embodying my invention. 4This member18 serves as a supporting means forthe entire pump, whichjlatter isadapted to be lowered nto the casing until it rests upon such memer. i i

The pump comprises a working barrel including a lower cylinder Q0 and anupper cylinder 21 arranged with `its lower end within the lower cylinder20 and suitably secured thereto. The lowerlend of the c linder 20 isthreadedly connected to a va ve body 22 through the `medium of ancriterion ly threadefl collar 23, and this ifilve' body carries a valveseat 24 which is threadedly fitted in the lower end of the valve body,as clearly shown in the drawings. The valve seat 24 is formed with abeveled edge 24 which has a ground joint with arbeveled edge 17a of theseatmember 18, itI being noted that both of such edges are beveled. Thismember 24 provides a seat for a ball valve 25 which constitutes anintake valve in that in its unseated position as shown in Figure 2 theinflux of oil from below the member 18 into the valve body is permitted.Toy allow the oil yto circulate into the eonnecting collar 23 andultimately into the lower cylinder 20, the valve is maintained againstseating upon the lower end of the collarrby fingers 26 iormed on anddepending from the lower end oli' the collar. In the seated position ofthe valve 2,5, as shown in Figure l, it reposes upon a relatively sharpedge 27 of the valve seat 24, and in this position ot the valve it willnot discharge oil downwardly into the portl 19. As clearly shown inFigure 5, the valve body V22 is provided with a circular seriesotvertically disposed discharge ports 28. Each port is controlled by aball valve 29 in such manner that oil can flow only. upwardly throughthe ports, the valves gravitating to closed position should oil attemptto move downwardly through the ports. To limitthe upward movement of thevalves 29 and to insure their proper seating upon seats B0, a valve cage31 is secured to the connecting collar 23 in the manner shown. TheVseats `tor the valves 29 Vare formed with relatively sharp edges in thesame. manner as. the edge 27 and for the purpose of reducing thepossibility olf `solid matter contained in the oil to be elevatedlodging between the seats and valves.

Reciprocable within the barrels 20 and 2l are pistons 32 and 33,respectively, rigidly connected by a piston rod 34;, the latterextending upwardly through and having a sli-ding lit within a head 35vsuitably secured upon the upper end ot the cylinder 21. The head 35 isprovided with a stuil'ing box 36 oit conventional form, designed toprevent the leakage of oil upwardly or downwardly through the head, aswill beunderstood.

For eliecting rotation of the entire pump within the casing l5 tor alpurpose which will be hereinafter described, the piston .32 is providedwith a nut 32 adapted to engage within an angular socket 2 a formed onthe upper end of the connecting collar 23. The nut 32aengages within thesocket 23?L only when the piston rod is moved to its extreme lower limitor to a position below that shown in Figure l, whereby rotation ofthepiston rod will eilect a corresponding Inovement of the entire pump uponthe seat member 18. The nut 32 is withdrawn from the socket 23 when thepiston rod'is returned to pumping position.

The head 35 is provided-with a depending flange 38 to which is secured acylindrical jacket 39 maintained in spaced parallel rela-- tion to thecylinder 21 to provide a chamber 40 which is open at its lower end andwhich communicates at its upper end with the upper end of the cylinderthrough a circular scries of ports'fll formed in the cylinder. The head35 and the lower end ot' the jacket 39 areformed with radially extendingflanges Ll2 which are circumferentially7 spaced, as shown in Figures 3and 4, and which are adapted to engage the inner' wall. ot the casingfor the purpose of centering the pump as a whole upon the seat member18. y

In designing the pump, it is necessary for reasons to be hereinafterexplained that the stroke ot' the pistons 32 and 33 be restricted toapproximately one-half of the length ol the cylinders 2() and 21 so thatin the cylinder 20 below the piston 32 is provided what Iterm aresultant settling chamber through which the piston at no time movesduring its workin(lr stroke. In the cylinder 21the stroke of tie piston33 is such that a quantit-y of fluid less than the fluid capacity ot thechamber 40 is ejected from the cylinder on the up stroke of thepistonfwhiie on the pistons down stroke only the same quantity oi fluidls'drawn into the cylinder. In this manner a second resultant settlingchamber Vis formed between thejacket 3E)l and the cylindcr 21, namely,the chamber 40.

In operation, the pump is lowered into the casing until the valve seat24 rests oh the supporting member 18tl1e latter having been fixed withinthe casing'at predetermined point which may be above or below the normallevel of the oil in the casing. Assuming that the oil levelA is belowthe supporting member 18, upward movementlot the piston rod S-lrom theposition shown in F ignre l to that shown in F igure 2 causes the piston32 to create a negative pressure in the cylinder 20 which iirstopens theintake valve 25 and then draws oil into the cylinder, lilling the firstresultant settling chamber hereinbefore described `and the space abovethe chamber provided by the upward displacement of the piston, whichspace will be hereinafter referred to as the working chamber. Duringthis operation the several discharge valves 29 remain closed so that oildoes not pass into the chamber provided between the casing 15 and thepump barrel. However, on the down stroke of the piston rod, the piston32 moving downwardly in the cylinder cjects the oil from the workingchamber and possibly a, portion of the oil filling the resultantsettling chamber, the oil ejected from the working chamber passing intothe valve body, closing the valve 25 and opening the valves 29, asillustrated in Figure l, so that the oilejectedl is forced upwardlythrough the ports 28 and into the space between the lli pump barrel' andcasing. As indicated the arrows in Figure l,`substantially half ol. theoil ldlscharved through the ports 28 passes upwardly beyond the pumpbarrel der 2l to take up the upperI piston displacement. i f

ll t) The succeeding up stroke of the piston 32 causes a second quantityof oil to be drawn into the lower cylinder, and with it thereturn of thebody of oil originally occupying the resultant settling chamber so as totill the latter and thus interpose itself between the piston and the newquantity oi oil drawn into the cylinder, which 1 term the active oil.lVith the up stroke of the upper piston 33, thebody of oil introducedinto the upper cylinder on the down stroke is forced from the cylinderinto the settling chamber 40, but because of the fact that theluidcapacity of the chamber 40 exceeds the oil displaced by the piston,the original body of oil is not ejected from but remains in the chamberto be returned to the cylinder on the succeeding down stroke of thepiston. The oil below the original oil body in the chamber 4:0,` which Iterm the active oil, is

"ejected from the chamber and passes upwardly between the pump barreland casing,

`asindicated by thearrows in Figure 2. In

thismanner the original body ot oil entering the upper cylinder andalternately pumped from theset-tling chamber 40 to the cylinder remainsat all times in interposed relation to the upper piston and 4active oil.

From the foregoing operation` it will be clear that during reciprocationof the `pistons oil will `be intermittently drawn into `the pump andsuccessively elevated `first by one piston and then the other and in"such manner that the bodies of oil originally introduced into thesettling chambers will be retained within the pump to providelubrieating and protecting fluid mediums for the pistons, and vbecauseof t-he fact that the fluid mediums move as bodies in the sett-lingchambers, the solid particles or other foreign matter contained in thesebodies of oil will. be given ample opportunity, during reciprocation ofthe pistons, t settle t-o the bottom of the bodies so as to beultimately discharged from the cylinders and jacket, thus insuring atall timesclean Huid mediums in the working areas of the pistons wherebythe pistons and cylinders are maintained tree from the abrasive actionof the solid particles.

It the positioning of the supporting member 18 in the casing is suchthat the pump is submerged when seated on the supporting member, theresultant settling chambers are filled with the upper `strata of oilduring submersion as it will be understood that the oil will be free topass into both c linders. As the u per strata of oil is usual y clean,that is, ree from solid Aparticles or other foreign matter, the oilfilling the settling chambers will likewise be clean, and main- .tainedclean by virtue of their bodily movements, as has been described.

Should the pump be used in a well bearing oil which is supersaturatedwith solid par- Y ticles, clean oil can be supplied to the settlingchambers by forming the piston rod 34 with a duet 34;*21 extendingcompletely through the rod so that its lower end is in communicationwith the settling chamber of the lower cylinder. To place the duct incommunication with the upper cylinder so that oil can be supplied to theupper settling chamber 40, a port 341 is formed in the rod, as shown. Bythis construction oil introduced into the duct at the top of the wellwill flow into and `fill thecylinders to subsequently provide the cleanHuid mediums.

It is to be particularly noted that the discharge and intake valves 2oand 2f are arranged in close proximity to each other, and in the areaadjacent these valves the oil is continuously active so that the solidparticles contained in the oil are at all times held in suspension, andit has been found in practice that theyare held in suspension in thesame ratio as when drawn into the pump, thereby preventing theaccmnulation ot solid matter in the pump and insuring its properoperation at all times.

Should the .pump be inactive ttor a. time sufficient to allow solidn'iatter to settle and thusprevent proper operation et anyT ot thevalves and 29, the pump as a unit can be raised from its seat to allowthe oil in the casing to be discharged through the port li), therebyAflushing out all solid matter so that the valves are tree to operate'inthe nlanner intended. Should solid matter accl'lmulate upon thesupporting member 19 so as to prevent the proper seating ci the member`24: thereon the `piston rod 34 can be moved downwardly to cause the nutto engage withln the angular socket 23 whereby, upon rotation of thepiston rod, the entire pump `isi-rotated to dislodgethe solid matterfrom the supporting` `memlier so that the member 24`can be properlyseated thereon. found necessary torepair any parts of the pump, theentire pump body can be readily removed from the casing withoutdisturbing the casing or the supporting member i8, and it is to be notedthat as soon as the withdrawal of the pump is started the port 19 willbe opened to allow the casing to be emptied.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of fluid pumpembodying my invention, it is to be understood that various changes andmodifications may' be made herein without departing from the lUh l't itis spirit of the invention and the spirit and scope oit the appendedclaims.

What l claim is:

l. A fluid pump conil'irising al pair of pistons, a barrel in which saidpistons are adapted to work, said barrel being adapted to be loweredinto an oil striiig casing as to be submerged in the static oil ol awell, both ends o'lz said barrel being open to allow the upper strata ofoil to enter the ends ot' the barrel and provide fluid mediums l'ree'from solid particles in which said pistons are adapted to work. andmeans adapted to co-operate 'ith said oil string casing for elevatingoil on each :ftrole ot the l.pistons and in such nianner as to preventcomplete expulsion ot' the fluid mediums from the barrel.

A fluid pump as embodied in claim l, wherein said means comprises ajacket sur-- rounding the upper end oli the barrel to provide a chamberbetween the ltwo in which the fluid medium in the upper end et thebarrel is adapted to circulate when the upper pieton is operating, anintake valve at the lower end oit the barrel adapted to be opened onlyon the up stroke ot the lower piston to admit oil to the barrel, and adischarge. valve adapted to be opened only on the dow stroke olf thepistons to discharge the oil expelled from the lower end of the barrelto a point between the barrel and casing.

3. A fluid pump comprising a barrel having an upper cylinder and a lowercylinder of greater internal area than the upper barrel. connectedpistons reciprocable in the cylinders and the strokes olf which are lessthan the. length of the cylinders so as to provide a sett-ling chamberin one cylinder in which the corresponding piston does not n'iove, aachet surrounding the upper cylinder and having its lower end open, saidjacket being spaced :trom the cylinder to provide a settling chamberbetween the two, ports in the upper cylinder providing communicationbetween the chamber and Cylinder, a valve body at the lower end of thelower cylinder, an intake port in the valve body. discharge ports in thevalve body, and valves controlling said ports in the manner and it'orthe purijiose described.

4. A fluid pump comprising a barrel adapted to be submerged in a fluidto be elevated andhaving a chamber therein adapted to be partly lilledwith the fluid during subinersion, a piston operating in the `barrel insuch manner that the'fluid in the chamber infovides a fluid mediumbetween the piston and the oil elevated, and valves controlling thecirculation of fluid into and out of the barrel in such manner that thefluid medium is retained in the chamber and moves as a body undertheaction of the piston so as to allow solid matter therein to settle tothe bottom of the body for ultimate discharge from the barrel.

5. A fluid pump comprising a barrel having chambers in the opposite endsthereof adapted to be partly filled with a fluid, pistons operating inthe chambers in such manner that the fluid in the chamber providespermanent fluid mediums between the pistons and the fluid elevated,valve ports for controlling the circulation of fluid elevated by onepiston to deliver such fluid to a point between the barrel and casing,and without allowing discharge of the corresponding fluid medium fromthe corresponding chamber, and means associated with the barrel forcausing the other piston to further elevate a portion of the fluidelevated by the first piston through the actuation of the correspondingfluid medium and maintaining the corresponding fluid medium in'interposed rela- Y tion to the pi-ston and fluid elevated.

(l. In a fluid pump, a barrel having its lower end open, a valve bodysupported on and communicating with the `lower end of the barrel, anintake valved port in the valve body, a discharge va-lved port in theValve body, and a piston reciprocable in the barrel to open the intakeport for drawing fluid into the valve body on its upstroke and to closethe intake port and open the discharge port on its down stroke wherebythe fluid drawn into the valve body is expelled from the body throughthe discharge port, the intake port being adapted Yto be opened whensubmerging the barrel into a fluid so that a portion of the 4fluid isadmitted to the barrel and the stroke of the piston is less than thelength of the barrel so that fluid admitted to the barrel duringsubm'ersion remains in the barrel and forms a fluid medium between thepiston and fluid subsequently 'elevated by the piston.

7. In 'a fluid pump for wells, a barrel, means 'adapted to support/thebarrel at a predetermined level in a casing, a valve body on the. barrelhaving a member adapted to seat on said means, and a piston in thebarrel and movable to a position in which it is Ylocked to the valvebody whereby rotation of the body and member can be effected for thepurpose described.

CHARLES VAN AMBUR'GH.

saY

